PECS Phase 4: Building Sentence Structure

When the child is using 12-20 pictures and is able to discriminate between them to select the one that she wants, it is time to move on to Phase 4. In Phase 4 the student is taught to place an “I want” symbol and one of the pictures she has been using in Phases 2 and 3 on a sentence strip and give it to a partner to make a request. There are two reasons for teaching sentence structure. The first is that by visually defining requesting with the “I want” symbol you are establishing a framework for teaching other communicative functions in the future. The second reason is that the use of the sentence strip often provides the structure to elicit spoken words. The outcome of Phase 4 is spontaneous requesting using simple sentence structure.

Preparation

At this point it is useful for the child to have a communication book with several pages. The communication book is made using a three-ringed notebook with several pages (either lightweight plastic or laminated heavy paper). Strips of Velcro are attached to the cover of the book and to the pages. The student’s pictures are arranged in the pages of the book according to categories (foods, toys, activities, etc.). If the child is using large pictures but is able to manipulate smaller ones (3/4” to 1”) it is helpful to reduce them to this size at this point. A “sentence strip” (4” by 1-1/2” strip of laminated heavy paper) with Velcro on both sides is placed on the lower part of the cover of the book. The front of the strip has Velcro running horizontally across it. This is where the pictures or symbols will be arranged to construct the sentence. An “I want” symbol is made and placed on the upper right-hand corner of the book.

Introducing sentence structure

The strategy of backward chaining is used to teach independent use of the sentence strip. Initially the adult places the “I want” symbol on the left side of the sentence strip. When the student begins to take a picture off the board, the adult immediately guides him to place the picture next to the “I want” symbol on the sentence strip, take the strip off the book, and give it to the adult. The adult then reads the sentence (“I want ____.”) as she points to the symbols on the strip and gives the student the item they requested. The adult then places the sentence strip and symbols back on the communication book. The adult partner gradually fades physical guidance until the student is independently placing the symbol next to the “I want” symbol on the sentence strip and giving it to his partner. Once the sentence strip has been introduced, it should be used for all the requests the student is making throughout the day.

Next, the adult places the “I want” symbol in the upper left-hand corner of the cover of the communication book. When the student puts the picture of the desired item on the sentence strip, the adult physical prompts her to put the “I want” symbol in front of it on the strip. The adult quickly fades physical prompts until the student is assembling both symbols on the sentence strip independently. The adult partner should also begin to guide the student to point to the symbols on the strip as the adult reads it. It is helpful if the adult partner holds the sentence strip near his or her face while reading the sentence. Although eye contact is not directly taught in PECS, it is often a positive outcome of many successful communicative exchanges using the system. There should be many opportunities for the child or youth to generalize use of the sentence strip to a variety of partners and environments.

Through practice, the student begins to independently point to the symbols on the sentence strip as the adult reads it (“I want ___.”). The student is accustomed to receiving the requested item immediately after the adult reads the strip. At this point, the adult can begin to pause after reading “I want” before naming the requested item. Students who are able to vocalize or have spoken words but do not use them meaningfully may begin to complete the sentence with a vocalization, a word or a word approximation during this pause. Any attempt to vocalize during this pause should immediately result in the student getting the requested item. Many students begin to use spoken words meaningfully in this manner during Phase 4.

The outcome of Phase 4 is that the student independently uses simple sentence structure to spontaneously request with a variety of partners and a variety of environments.

Click play button of controller below to watch a video clip (You need QuickTime for Macintosh or Windows OS to watch this video. If you do not have QuickTime, please install from Apple's QuickTime site.)

Key Points

• Use physical prompts initially and quickly fade
• Do not use verbal prompts
• Continue to maintain frequent requesting in a variety of environments
• Once the sentence strip is introduced, use it for all requests
• Continue to build requesting vocabulary
• Continue to do correspondence checks
• Pause when reading the sentence strip to provide opportunities for vocal/verbal requesting

Helpful Tips

• It is easiest to begin training sentence structure in a one-to-one session with the communication book and a partner in close proximity
• During initial training, pictures used during the session should be placed on the front cover of the book
• As the student becomes accustomed to using the sentence strip, the pictures can be kept on the inside pages according to the category to which they belong
• Both at home and at school the communication book should be kept in a designated place that is accessible to the child